Hey. Just bought this fella and usually go avarice x3 then infinity - phantom x2 - then bloodthirsters whatever else. It's fun but I suck early game totally (only arp runes for him for that build =/ ).

So if I don't feel like spending 5k+ on runes for one character so he doesn't suck, what else is there? I've heard tank planks and AP but know of no specifics. Is a pure AD with tankiness viable? Even if my full (current) build is complete, I can get off a big parrrrrly but that's about it since I die so quickly.

I start with a Doran's shield, then go b and get 2 avarice blades and possibly boots. Once I get those I make IE, then phantom dancer. After that I should have all slots filled so I sell my shield for another dancer and top it off by turning one Avarice blade into Youmuu's Ghostblade and selling the other for some lifesteal item.

I usually get this build completed every match fairly quickly with GP, unless they surrender.

Just deny all the time and farm like a madman.

If you don't want to be terrible early game, get sheen, and then upgrade to triforce. Then get youmuu's, infinite edge and some survivability (BV, randuin's, or warmogs). You may need to get the survivability before infinite edge. I know its hard to wait for those amazing crits, but sometimes its just the best decision. You can top it all off with an atma's at the end if the game goes that long.

@ OP: that's definitely a relatively effective way of playing gangplank (it's basically what FeelNoFear does in high elo), but your team will really, really hate you early game before you get all your items. Those avarices aren't the greatest as far as stats go, and you're not gonna be doing much past the occasional ult.

Teleport + exhaust is usually the way to go. You definitely need to get all the CDR possible, so go 11/0/19, getting the CDR and sunder in offense. Manamune is fun to screw around with, so you might want to get 3-4 points in the +max mana in utility.

Personally, I like a more support-y tankplank, where you get meki + hp pots first, build it into chalice if you're solo or in a tough lane where you need to be defensive. You max scurvy and parley, usually getting spirit's visage with tank items (warmog's and atma's is my favorite way to go :P), but if your team doesn't really need the extra meat, just go avarice -> ghostblade with maybe a stark's or aegis, while building an IE at some point, sheen around mid game, and probably just go for a glass cannon bloodthirster + phantom spam build, possibly getting triforce or just selling the sheen. Ionian or mercs.

The point is that if you want to be a dps, play something else. Gangplank is a support with a very powerful Q. You want to stay alive, try to screw up their squishies with parley, try to get your morale buff off, and ult.

I've been having success with pirate. He's prolly one of my fav champs to play b/c of the random omg moments like critting a teemo for the second half of his health when I hit 3 and he was still 2 from deny >_< lol

I typically get a philo stone early to help with mana probs and an avarice soon after that. I've been getting 2x avarice sometimes and it helps me get the crits earlier, I sell my philo stone at like 25-30 mins. My build order after the avarice is to get zeal, bf, giants belt, and vamp scepter. Then upgrade those to phantom, ie, frozen mallet, thirster.

I rarely get boots on pirate... phantom + raise moral is typically enough... Frozen mallet makes this work late game, and gives tons of health. I like going with bveil for survivability but sometimes I'll go fon for higher resist relying on my remove scurvy to take care of cc.

imo - pirate isn't a great support, tank, or ap champ... he's a dps carry. He's actually one of the better old ones since he provides some edge early game with deny, built in cleanse / heal, and has some insane burst with his q crits. He can only heal himself, and has to be near minions to activate raise moral so I can't see him as support... and ap? Only his r and heal have ap ratios... lich bane will work with q but you're not going to build more damage out of lich bane than you will from phantom, ie, thirster. Also you're basically reducing yourself to ad mage <_< dps > mage.

I think he would make a nice tanky dps champ if you don't like the carry role. I've thought about how to build him this way while keeping his crit build viable (I will prolly never play him w/o crits) but haven't come up with any good ideas yet... His heal is actually pretty weak early, it's mostly to free his feat, not keep him alive in a fight.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I wanted to try some variety. I try to deny also so I think I'm trying to everything at once which messes me up. I feel sheen would help a ton early on when I can't rely on crits so maybe that. I'll try some of these.

Also, will I get yelled at for going ap? Teehee.

For DPS gangplank, I always start with meki health and mana pot, or 2 health pots. Basically, I just try to lane enough for a BF sword + boots of speed, if I can't, I buy a zeal + boots of speed, I usually just lane until I get my IE or BF sword, and use my ultimate accordingly. After I get my IE, I get phage which turns to trinity force with the zeal, I just roam around after I get my trinity force and mercury treads, and basically, you don't ever really need to recall unless you really want to shop, which I usually farm enough for my Bloodthirster, but if I do need to recall, I just buy another zeal which turns to phantom dancer after my Bloodthirster. Last item, I always get a frozen heart, great cooldown reduction, gives mana, plenty of armor, and a good debuff.

As for tankplank, I don't play it much but, main items I get are atma's impaler, warmogs, sunfire cape, mercury treads and spirit visage.

As for AP build on gangplank, I don't see much point in this, so I don't play it.

This is the gangplank guide i run.

I play support Gangplank so I start with 2 Faerie Charms and 3 Health Potions so I can lane quite a long time while last hitting with Parrrley and denying enemies. So basically my core items are Shurelya's Reverie, infinity edge, and merc threads. THe remaining slots I just get the items depend on the team. You can look here. http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-le...ve-carry-57338

Instead of doing avarice blades, try philosopher stone(s). The mrgen is for constantly denying creeps and then on top of that the health regen helps against the occasional harass (its not much but it helps.)